Ford Fusion: "The hottest of the hot"

“Did you hear the Ford Fusion beat the Honda Accord in reliability?” was how John Hightower, general manager of Don Bohn Ford in Harvey, greeted me recently.

I’d heard.

Consumer Reports magazine, a publication of the non-profit, independent consumer watch group Consumers Union, has touted the Fusion as one of the most reliable mid-size sedans on the market – ahead of Honda’s Accord and Toyota’s Camry.

Ford, which has made a point of focusing on reliability as a benchmark for “the new Ford,” now has nearly all of its models posting at least average reliability scores, making Ford the most reliable American automaker, according to the group.

However, Honda and Toyota continue – on the whole – to produce more models that claim above-average reliability scores than just about anyone else. Still, it’s always nice to learn a manufacturer is significantly improving product reliability.

What does this mean? If you’ve wanted to give your auto dollars to an American carmaker in the past, but felt you’d have to compromise on reliability to do so, you no longer have to. You have options, three to be exact.

The Ford Fusion comes as a four-cylinder, a V-6 and a hybrid. In fact, the hybrid Fusion, introduced for the 2010 model year, beat out all other hybrid sedans on expected reliability and has wowed critics from the get-go.

The Fusion, positioned between the smaller Focus and the full-size Taurus, also fills a size-appropriate sweet spot. It can seat five (four on long hauls), handles well, has a roomy trunk and is small enough to easily fit into tight parking spaces.

What I liked most about the 2011 Fusion Sport I test-drove was its quickness off the line and its steadfast brakes. Its suspension hung on tight during hard cornering, but was never punishing over rough pavement. In fact, the Sport showed nice road dampening skills.

The Fusion’s exterior features Ford’s new bolder grille design. The side mirrors are of generous proportions, reducing the chances for blind spots. The interior is quiet and Ford’s stereo/navigation interface screen is one of the most logical and easy to use I’ve come across.

The Sport model of the Fusion features the larger 3.5-liter V-6, which creates 263 hp and 249 lb.-ft. of torque. The V-6 in non-Sport models is a 3.0-liter, 240-hp/223-lb.-ft., flex-fuel engine. All three engines in the Fusion use regular gas.

The four-cylinder Fusion is front-wheel drive. The V-6 and Sport model are available in front- and all-wheel drive versions. All three power plants can be mated to the six-speed automatic transmission, but only the four-cylinder gives you the chance to opt for a six-speed manual.

And, lest you start complaining about not having a manual option in the Sport, current estimates say less than eight out of 100 vehicles sold in this country have manual transmissions. This is thanks in part to faster shifting automatics and “clutch-less” manuals. Therefore, I’m not inclined to entertain any complaining.

Actually, driving the Sport with the automatic Selectshift transmission in manual mode didn’t set my hair on fire. So I say, enjoy the six-speed automatic. After all, it gives us the luxury of drinking coffee while driving to work, plus 92 out of 100 of us were going to pick it anyway.

The modified sport-tuned suspension on this model will also be instrumental in keeping your java from sloshing out the cup. The sport-tuned suspension and lower-profile tires from Goodyear provided a tight grip without creating bone-jarring vehicle dynamics.

While Hightower at Don Bohn calls the Fusion Sport “the hottest of the hot,” the Sport does a good job of traveling incognito. If you’re not clued in to its racing ambitions by its tires, the only other clues to its special designation are the deck-mounted spoiler and its red-accented Sport badge.

And don’t worry that the Fusion Sport is all about going fast at the detriment of everything else. The model’s interior is supple and accommodating with sporty styling touches such as contrasting stitching on its leather seating surfaces and door panel inserts, aluminum accelerator and brake pedals, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob.

The illuminated “Fusion” on the doorsill and ambient lighting system are fun options that will make just about everybody feel young. The ambient lighting system lets you choose what color illuminates the front and rear foot-wells, as well as the cup holders in the center console. Press the button and it’s cobalt blue to match the background of the gauges. Press it again and it matches the blood-red speedometer needle.

Either way, you’ll be driving “the hottest of the hot” in reliable mid-size sedans.
JUST THE FACTS